was it as early as this, or
some years later, that the horse cars of the "huckleberry
road" pursued their devious and deliberate way to Fordham from the
old wooden Harlem toll-bridge?

But this brings us to Morrisania, named after the famous Morris
family, which gave a Chief Justice to New York province, and a mayor to
New York City, and to the whole country in the days when patriotism cost
something, the many-sided Gouverneur Morris, statesman, orator,
financier, diplomat, engineer, and finally a dignified and retired
country gentleman. A delicious story is told of him by "Felix
Oldboy" in connection with the founding of Mott Haven, now also
become a part of the growing city. When the elder Jordan I. Mott has
purchased the ground for his great foundry plant, as he received the
deeds from the hands of the venerable Gouverneur Morris, he asked Morris
whether he might call that portion of the "Patroonship" after
himself, "Mott Haven." Morris was blunt in his older days as
he was outspoken and fearless in his younger, and replied: "Yes,
and for aught I care you may change the name of the Harlem River to the
Jordan and dip into it as often as you want to." As Mott was not
afflicted with the Syrian chieftain's leprosy he did not follow the
latter part of this recommendation, nor change the name of the Harlem.
But he dug a canal which has become a sad nuisance since, extending a
good way up beyond One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street. The same
authority informs us that Morris even at his great age was vigorous at
handling

a scythe or sickle, and gave his me no
hard tussle to keep up with
him at harvesting, in which bucolic occupation the retired statesman
would regularly engage in spite of the remonstrations of aristocratic
relatives. The noble old mansion of the Morrises stood near the water's
edge, about where the Harlem and East Rivers joined their waters. The
first house erected in what was the village of Morrisania proper, was
that of a Mr. Cauldwell, in 1848, and a "Union" church was
organized the next year.

Mott Haven was soon populated by Mr. Mott's prosperous operatives who
built scores of cozy little homes in the vicinity of the
"works," and to be sure that the name might stick to his
manorial and industrial possessions, Mr. Mott put up a signboard that
could be seen across the river with the legend "Mott Haven"
inscribed thereon, and secured for it also government recognition as a
post office station. it will make the denizens of Morrisania weep or
smile accordingly to their predilections to be reminded of the fact that
the place was intended to be a strictly temperance village; not only gin
and whiskey and all that ilk to be banished there from, but also the
milder intoxicants, beer and ale. The towering and multitudinous
breweries of the district at the present time are a sad or an amusing
commentary upon these laudable designs. Man proposes and some other
power disposes; what the power in this case can have been, we leave to
the decision of the reader. Port Morris at the extreme boundary line
toward the sound or East river, then had its foundry, as today it has
that and several hundred other imposing hives, to be seen far and wide
along the shore of the broad waters whereon it abuts.

Little was it thought, in 1873, that the villages of College Point,
and Flushing, and Astoria, all within view of Port Morris, with Riker's
and Berrain, and North and South Brother islands, would all one day be
embraced within the sweep of those city limits which had just brought
this then remote territory in to New York. But farther than Port Morris
lay the village of West Farms, and that , too, with all its memories of
the past became a legitimate part of New York City and its history. Here
the De Lanceys had their country seat; and hot were the controversies on
election day in Westchester County between the Morrises and the De
Lanceys, made irreconcilable antagonists and rivals by the arbitrary
favors and disfavors of Governor Cosby, who put down one (Lewis Morris
from the bench of the Chief Justice) and lifted up another (James De
Lancey), without consulting anybody but his own will and his own pocket,
as by this means he hoped to get away a few thousand pounds of back
salary from stanch old Councillor Rip Van Dam, who had been acting
Governor for over a year. Here at West Farms, too, a deed was done
reflecting honor upon a name that needs the mention of all the honorable
acts ever performed by its bearer to counterbalance the one dark deed
that ruined him. Aaron burr led a daring assault on a blockhouse--built
here by Oliver De Lancey, the brother of the Chief Justice and a rabid
Tory; the very audacity and rapidity of the maneuver causing the
garrison to surrender without a shot in its own defense.

After 1873, and in the process of making this rustic historic retreat
a part of the city, sad havoc was made of roads and houses, great and
small. The horse car, soon after the annexation, and the trolley now,
have brought it into communication with Harlem Bridge, and the elevated
road thunders post at no great distance. Ten years ago hills half cut
away, houses left absurdly high and dry, that were once even with the
road, or placed on piles with the very ground gone from under, gave
evidence of the transition still incomplete. But even then, or even now,
nooks may be found where pristine nature still revels in her unsullied
beauty and human beings dwell in rustic retirement, all unconscious of
the fact that they are part of a rumbling, rattling, thunderous mart of
industry and commerce. Thus did New York take part of Westchester,; and
will she let die these names that are dear to the antiquarian, and to
the original villagers? The railroads have partly taken care that she
will not. For Mott Haven and Melrose, and Fordham and Morrisania, and
Kingsbridge, and Spuyten Duyvil and all, look kindly down upon us at
every angle and it is not likely that these will soon depart from their
time tables or

their stations. The city having crossed the Harlem river was bound to
keep bridges in its rear. It was not doing anything like crossing the
Rubicon, but on the other hand was greatly interested in keeping up the
means of crossing back and forth in the fullest measure. The oldest
bridge by far, of course, is Kingsbridge, which superseded the ferry
there in the days of the earliest Van Cortlandts.

For a long time this remained the only means of crossing to the
mainland, and Washington, in 1756, as well as Lafayette, in 1824, on
their way to Boston, had to make their journey round to this extremity
of the island. Before the middle of the century, however, a toll bridge
had been built across to Morrisania or Mott Haven from the end of Third
Avenue. It was a wooden affair, none of the strongest or safest. It
could not have been very old in 1846, yet even then people shivered a
little in going across, and eye witnesses describe it as something of
"a ruin, moss grown and shaky." Some years before the
annexation this bridge was replaced by a fine iron drawbridge, turned by
a steam engine, and presenting three great arches to the view as one
came up or down the river, one on either side supporting the approach,
and the larger central one revolving on a pier to allow the passage of
ships. But this has had a shorter life than its wooden predecessor, for
at the present ay, it is no more and for a year or two a splendid
structure has been under way, allowing a greater distance between its
bottom and tide water. For the same reason the Fourth Avenue railroad
Bridge has been greatly raised. At Second Avenue a lofty bridge carried
the trains of the elevated roads across the river. At Madison Avenue
foot passengers and horse cars cross over by a bridge which has curved
approaches, and leads directly from the avenue running south and north
into One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street, running east and west. Fro
many years Macomb's Dam Bridge has become a familiar object. It was
erected in 1861, high above the river, with wooden trestle-work, and
wooden supports for the approaches. Often has its name led the innocent
into dangerous semblance of profanity; but the designation arose simply
enough. General Macomb undertook to throw a dam across the Harlem at
this point; but the dweller's along the lower shores of the river could
not endure this desecration, which made a mere mud creek of the stream
along their doors. So they came up ina body and smashed the dam, but
could not break the name away from the locality. In deference to
delicate ears, however, the city fathers have tried, largely in vain, to
christen the bridge with the name "Central." Struck with the
fever for improvement the wooden structure was replaced only recently by
a splendid high bridge of iron, graceful and strong, having a length of
1,920 feet and width of fifty feet. It was begun in 1892 and opened tot
he public on May 1, 1895. Its cost was $2,000,000. It served to connect
Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Avenues at their termini, with the annexed
district; while from Amsterdam (Tenth) and St. Nicholas avenues comes
down a tremendous viaduct the full width of one Hundred and Fifty-fifth
Street, directly to the bridge, high over the tracks of the Eighth
Avenue elevated Railway. A bridge conveys trains from the latter
structure over the river, ruining there on the surface to various points
in the annexed parts, and up to Yonkers and beyond Tarrytown.

Next in the series comes the move old aqueduct long known as High
Bridge, erected at the first construction of the Croton Water System in
1842. And still above, at but a short distance, is seen the last and
noblest structure of all, the wonderful Washington Bridge. Its lofty
roadway, 150 feet above tide waster, leads from One Hundred and
eighty-first Street and Amsterdam (Tenth) Avenue, straight across to
Fordham heights. It is 2,400 feet long and 80 feet wide, and built of
iron, steel and stone. The approach on the west side rests on four
arches of granite faced with dressed stone, and that on the Fordham side
on three similar arches. It was completed in 1889, but not formally
opened to the public till the next year. #12

New York and the Arts--the metropolitan Museum of Art, which
was to become one of the great show places of the metropolis, began
modestly in the seventies in the Cruger Mansion on Fourteenth Street.
the work of organization was effected by a committee of 116 prominent
men, appointed at a public meeting on November 23, 1869, and in the
course of the next year the Legislature granted incorporation. The
nucleus of the collection was General di Cesnola's Cypriote group; and a
number of paintings by old Flemish and Dutch Masters, that had been
placed on exhibition at a home on Fifth Avenue, were added. As the
collection grew the Cruger House was found inadequate and permission was
obtained to erect the handsome gallery in Central Park. The building was
opened to the public in 1880. One of the most prized adjuncts is the
Cleopatra's needle nearby. In 1877 the Khedive of Egypt made to the city
an offer of the obelisk, which in its ancient situation was placed near
the Temple of On by Thothmes III. The news of the offer was received
with enthusiasm, for there was something piquant about the thought that
one of the oldest object of art in the world should be beaten by the
wind and rain that swept through the newest of the great cities. The
public followed the news of its departure and journey with great
interest. A safe method of shipping it was devised and the expenses of
the undertaking, amounting to $100,000, were borne by Mr. Vanderbilt.
Its arrival almost synchronized with the opening of the Museum of
natural History on the opposite side of the part from the site of the
Metropolitan Museum, when President Hayes attended the official
ceremony. There was a tendency to group literary and artistic
collections of all kinds in the vicinity, and not far from the Museum of
Art on fifth Avenue, between Seventieth and Seventy-first streets, the
admirable Lenox Library was established by Mr. James Lenox, who had for
years made the collection of literary and artistic treasures his hobby.
A fine stone building was erected to house the rare manuscripts and
books and paints, and the place was opened to the public in 1877. In
course of time the Lenox and the Astor and the Tilden foundations were
to be all housed together in a more central part of the city.

Statue of Liberty--About this time also there was a great
accession to the art treasures of New York in the erection of the Statue
of Liberty. Following the Franco-German War and the establishment of the
French republic a design was conceived of giving some permanent
expression of the community of interest and sympathy between the two
great democracies. As a result a French-American Union was formed in
France and 1,000,000 francs raised the 100,000 subscribers. After
various tentative proposals the monument selected was a colossal figure
representative of liberty enlightening the world, and the site chosen
was an island in New York Harbor, where it would be visible day and
night to those who came and went through the water-gates of the city.
The sculptor chosen was

Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who had been responsible for the statue
of Lafayette in Union Square. When he arrived for the unveiling, in
1876, the sculptor picked out Bedlow's Island as the most suitable for
the statue.

The next thing necessary was the building of a pedestal worthy of
supporting the giant figure, and a committee, of which William M. Evarts
was chairman, in a short time raised $300,000 for the purpose. The arm
holding the torch was put on display at the Centennial Exhibition in
Philadelphia, and afterwards placed in Madison Square. On July 4, 1880,
the monumental work was formally made over in Paris to the American
minister. It was temporarily set up in the French capital, and the
presentation was graced by agreeable ceremonies. In 1883 the foundation
of the pedestal was laid on Bedlow's Island, following the designs
presented by the architect, Richard M. Hunt, and in 1886 the committee
was in a position to announce that they were ready to place the statue
on its base. In May, 1885, the plates of the figure were put on boards
the French streamer, "Isere," and brought to New York. The
French transport was greeted by a group of American war vessels, which
escorted her up the bay with hundreds of other vessels in her wake. The
ceremonies that preceded the placing in position and the unveiling of
the imposing figure became a crescendo when the wonderful stature became
visible itself. It surpassed everything of which the average New Yorker
had dreamed in hearing of the preliminary work. The people saw with
admiration the great torch burning in the uplifted hand more than 300
feet above the waters of the harbor. They regarded it as one of the
wonders of the world added to the other wonders of their miraculous city
and embodying the dearest aspirations that had inspired America's
struggle to the summit of worldly power and prosperity. They reveled in
the statistics with which the people regaled them. They listened with
avidity when told that forty people could stand in the head of the
glorious amazon, while the torch itself, glowing in the dizzy air,
provided room for a dozen other people.

On the day of the unveiling 20,000 persons marched past a reviewing
stand in Madison Square, where President Cleveland was the most
prominent figure. The parade went down Broadway to the Battery, and
later on the President was escorted over to the island. There were a
number of distinguished Frenchmen present, among then the French
premier, the Minister of Public Instruction, and some Senators and
Deputies. Comte de Lesseps presented the statue to the American republic
in the name of the French Republic, and William M. Evarts spoke for the
American people and presented the pedestal. President Cleveland went
through the ceremony of accepting both gifts in the name of the Nation.
Then the sculptor, M. Bartholdi, removed the veil, and jubilation
reverberated at the signal from the harbor and the city. During the
weeks and the months that followed visitors crossed over in an unending
stream

to become more closely acquainted with Madame Liberty, whose grace
and solidity so strongly captivated them. From that day to this there
have been few objects in New York that have been looked upon with more
curious and admiring eyes alike by visitors to the city from other parts
of the Union and the immigrants which the aspiration typified by her has
beckoned to our shores.

Centenary of Independence--As the year drew near that would
complete a full century of American independence and Federal union the
general disposition grew that there should be a recognition of what that
century had meant to the Nation, not only worthy, but memorable. It was
recalled that during the time that New York was the Federal capital it
was still a town whose houses clustered within the toe of the island and
to which even what is now Canal Street was out of bounds. In 1889 that
small town had taken on the stature of one of the metropolitan cities of
the earth. It was natural that a feeling of exultation should make
itself felt among the people as they contrasted the city as it was with
the city in which they lived and moved and had their being. There was
probably no other city on earth where the line of development has been
more direct and continuous, more stable and fruitful, and more filled
with promise for the future. The approach of the centennial set new
Yorkers, particularly those who belonged to the old Dutch and colonial
stock, looking up the records and heirlooms that pertained to the
history of the city. #13 they began to realize that they were themselves
no longer a new but an old people, and that the city they lived in was
filled with innumerable historical associations that should be
preserved. Prints of the old New York that had lain hidden in the attic
and the lumber room, as things useless and out of date, were now seen to
have a value in proportion as the date they represented was dim and
distant. People took out their old furniture and looked at it with a new
interest. It was in such a chair that Washington or Hamilton or
Jefferson had sat and they realized that a generation who knew not these
might figures, to whom indeed they dwelt in God-like calm on high
Olympus, would look with unending curiosity on the relics of an age that
saw them with bodily eyes and which had seen the birththroes of the
Nation. It was deemed meet, therefore, that in New York, as a theatre,
should be staged a celebration of the great events that had then
occurred which would be in keeping with its predominance among the
cities of the Union and which would be an expression of the price and
heartfelt gratitude of its citizens. Preparations for the festivities
had already begun some years before, both the Chamber of Commerce and
the New York Historical Society having on several occasions directed
attention to the arrival of the centenary. A

committee consisting of 200 prominent men, with Hamilton fish as
chairman, began in 1887 to work out the program. The general committee
divided itself into ten lesser committees, each of which took charge of
a particular preliminary work. It was decided that the celebration would
take place on the last two days of April, with the culmination on the
first of May. Some idea of the program that would be followed was given
our to the public and householders were requested to ornament their
dwellings and places of business. The public cooperated heartily and
when the auspicious days arrived the city was a glowing mass of color.
Every year that passed with its celebration of one kind and another
showed the people as growing more skillful in decorating the city. there
were strips of bunting a foot or two wide, divided into three equal
strips of red, white, and blue, the field strewn with stars, and drawing
its motifs from the Stars and Stripes.

It was one of the main features of the program, elaborated by the
various committees, to reproduce as well as the celebrants were able the
series of events that culminated in the inauguration of Washington 100
years before. Thus it was arranged that President Harrison, representing
the earliest president of the republic, should take train from
Washington soon after midnight on April 29 and proceed to Elizabeth.
Thence he and his party were to be driven in carriages along the old
road to Elizabethport, where he was to be welcomed by the committee of
Reception and taken on board the Untied States vessel, the "Despatch,"
and brought to New York. The "Despatch" was to be accompanied
by two other vessels, the "Monmouth" and "Sirius,"
bearing on board such of the company as could not be accommodated on the
President's vessel, and the trio of boats were to pass through two lines
of war vessel anchored in the harbor, with Liberty Island as the
starting point. The "Despatch" came to anchor in the East
River near Wall Street, its journey across the bay reproducing in
essentials the arrival of Washington who had followed the same route
from Elizabeth in a barge rowed by pilots, as a similar barge rowed by
twelve pilots carried President Harrison from the "Despatch' to the
Wall Street slip. The President was welcomed by Governor Hill and Mayor
Grant, as Washington had been received by Governor Clinton and Mayor
Varick in 1789. A collation was served at the Lawyers' Club in the
Equitable Life Insurance Building, after which the President was driven
to the city hall. Here a crowd of girls stood with baskets of flowers
which they emptied on the steps as the President passed into the
building. At the door the Chief Executive listened to an address
delivered by a member of the senior class of the Normal College in
reminiscence of a similar address made to Washington on his memorable
journey to the city as he passed through Trenton.

During the afternoon the President stood in the governor's room to
permit himself to come in contact with the people, and on this occasion
he is said to have shaken hands with something like 5,000 persons. There

was a ball later at the Metropolitan Opera House. On the second day,
April 30, the city was wakened up by the powerful cannonading, for this
was the principal day of the festivities, and the centennial anniversary
of the day of the inauguration. The street were soon filled by joyous
crowds, but the deeper significance was testified to by religious
exercises in St. Paul's Church, that were a reproduction of the services
that occurred when Washington had attended church during the
inauguration ceremonies. Later on there were ceremonies at the
Sub-Treasury building, standing as it did on the site of the Federal
hall, the President and those with him grouping themselves on a large
platform that covered the flight of stairs and around the statute of
Washington. President Harrison sat in the chair Washington had himself
occupied in the Senate Chamber, and the Bible on which he had taken the
oath of office was placed nearby. Prayers were uttered and poems were
read, including one by John g. Whittier, and an eloquent speech was
delivered by Chauncey M. Depew. President Harrison then spoke, and after
the president's words had been warmly cheered, Archbishop Corrigan
pronounced the benediction. The proceedings in Wall Street were followed
by a parade of the military, the President and the other officials
adjourning to a stand in Madison Square from which to review the troops.

The march was up Broadway, and the first division was composed of the
West Point and Naval Cadets, and the United States Infantry, cavalry and
artillery. The second division consisted of the militia of the several
States, twenty-three of them being represented in alphabetical order and
headed by the Governor of each State and staff. The third division was
made up of posts of the Grand Army of the republic, with something like
10,000 men in line. At night there were displays of fireworks in the
public places, and a number of open air concerts. In Madison Square
there was a concert in which 2,000 voices sang selections from Wagner
and other composers. The climax was reached with the Hallelujah Chorus
from Handel's Oratorio of the Messiah , which was rendered by the massed
choir and a band of nearly a hundred pieces. In the evening there was ad
inner at the metropolitan Opera House, at which both President Harrison
and ex-President Cleveland attended, and at which 800 guests sat down.
So passed the second day. the third day was likewise ushered in at early
morn with salvos of artillery, and perhaps this was the most popular day
of all for the chief features was a civic parade in which 75,00 people
participated. #14 This parade was also reviewed by the President from
the stand in Madison Square, the marchers preceding this time down
Broadway from fifty-seventh Street. The first division was made up of
the children from the public schools and students from City college,
Columbia University, and the University of New York. The floats excited
the popular interest for they were quite

elaborate and represented well known events and personages in
American history, as well as the different trades, professions and
organizations. On the third day the President and his party returned to
Washington. Part of the decoration that were put up to celebrate the
occasion were some triumphal arches on Fifth Avenue, one of them being
on the site of the fine marble arch on Washington Square. #15

these representations of a favorite species of architecture among the
Romans greatly impressed all who viewed the, and it was resolved that
the foot of Fifth Avenue should be invested with a more permanent
memorial. Thus the Washington Arch was decided upon and the cornerstone
was paid on Decoration Day, 1890, by the Grand Master of Masons of the
State of New York, John W. Vrooman. The arch itself was completed in
1892, and the sculptures in 1895, when it was formally received by the
city authorities. The arch when competed gave general satisfaction. It
would not compare with the marvelous Arc de Triomphe on the Champs
Elysees, which almost touches the summit of what is possible in work of
that kind. But it was noble and imposing. It rose to a height of seventy
feet and the upper portion was decorated with bas-reliefs of intricate
design. Two inscriptions are sculptured upon it, one giving the occasion
and purpose of the memorial, the other from the mouth of Washington on
one of those occasions when the strong emotion that ruled him broke out
into words of single-minded eloquence: "Let us raise a standard to
which the wise and honest can repair. The vent is in the hands of
God." so one of the most noted celebrations in the history of the
city came to an end, providing the people with another milestone to
indicate the progress they had made and endowing them with a sense of
renewed pride and courage from the proofs provided that government of
the people, by the people, for the people, had been vindicated in their
work and in their name.

New York in the Eighties--The eighties had marked a fruitful
period in the history of the city. Events of an important character had
been frequent in those years--the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, the
extension of the elevated lines, the unveiling of the Liberty statue,
the great blizzard, the commemoration of the Centennial of Washington's
inauguration--these were typical of the development that was going
steadily forward in the city. there were events also of another
character, which moved the public. William H. Vanderbilt, the oldest son
of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who laid the foundation of the family's great
fortune, died in 1885, being at the time the richest man in the world,
and leaving a fortune estimated at $200,000,0000, or twice what his
father had left him. The great blizzard of 1888 claimed a victim in
Roscoe Conkling, the eminent lawyer, who had been Senator form New York.
He had made his way through the drifts of snow in the morning and got

to his office,. In the evening when he wanted to return home the
cabmen accosted by him bargained for $50 for a fare, rather than pay
which the ex-Senator preferred to try the journey on foot. But the
weather was too much for him. As a result of the hardships of that day
in the street he died a few days later.

The blizzard of 1888 long remained a favorite topic among New
Yorkers. It visited the city on Monday, March 12, after nearly
twenty-four hours of rain, so that the streets were like rivers. On this
New York a heavy blanket of snow descended and covered the city with
slush Then came a severe spell of frost, which turned the great expanse
of slush into a huge cake of ice, swept by fierce gales and blanketed
again with a heavy descent of snow. On the morning of the twelfth when
the citizens looked out of their windows or attempted to pass through
the streets they saw enormous drifts confronting them in every
direction. The street cars were all confined to their barns and, though
an attempt was made to move the elevated trains it was found useless.
Snow plows were requisitioned, but they proved a sorry remedy, for
though the mountains of snow might be removed, the gale still blew and
the snow still fell and the depth of frozen snow underneath had taken on
the persistence and density almost of concrete. The serious extent of
the calamity dawned on the people as the day progressed. The market, the
grocer and the butcher were divided from them by an arctic wilderness,
and families without proper supplies were forced to go hungry. There was
a good deal of distress and all the resources of the city were called
upon to get things back to normal. The shifts to which people were
reduced provided food for much laughter later on, but at the time the
trouble was real and almost calamitous, and showed what the freak of the
weather could do at times to a city that proudly believed it had learned
to command the forces of nature.

In 1880 the population was found to have well over-topped the million
mark--the actual figures were 1,206,500. The revelation brought home to
the people of the United States that the metropolis of the country was
forging to the first rank among the great cities of the world. The
figure had a talismanic force. The population began to look on their
home town as a city of destiny. The old slogans were recalled in which
men of former times gave expression to their pride in the fact that they
were citizens of no mean city. "She is a Mart of Nations. The
crowning city, whose merchants are princes, who traffickers are the
honorable of the earth." Words such as these had a mellow and
meaning sound to the New Yorker who looked about him and saw the city
growing everywhere, who recalled the vast fortunes piling up in the
various department of trade and industry, who saw the great ocean liners
swinging at the piers, and who sensed the dim populations of older lands
who were looking to the city as a Mecca and the continent behind it as a
Promised Land. The centennial celebration of Washington's inauguration
led

thoughtful men to contrast the city as it was then with the city as
it was in the year of that memorable event.

The New York of 1789 was a small and plain city, wrote one of the eye
witnesses of the celebration in 1889. #16

Not until 1830 does the United States Census show an excess in the
number of the inhabitants over that of Philadelphia. The city buildings
of a hundred years ago are now surpassed by those of many a country
town. The ravishingly beautiful and highly accomplished women, of whom
it is the fashion to speak in a style of gushing sentimentality, were no
more beautiful and not half as accomplished as their
great-granddaughters. The magnificent entertainments of that day would
now be laughed to scorn. A merchants prince of 1789, if now recalled to
life, would find himself surrounded by men possessing individually more
wealth than could have been gathered from all the city merchants
combined a hundred years ago. The learning of the distinguished
professors of that time is now surpassed by that of many a humble and
unknown student. Nor did its inhabitants for many years after 1789
appreciate the magnitude which the city was inevitably to possess. New
York, in 1789, was not even, like the poet, the mirror "of the
gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present."
Nevertheless, in every line in the much neglected history of the city
shows advance and increased prosperity. There has always been progress
and never retrogression. We, too, are "in the morning of the
times" and as we look, perhaps with amusement, upon the supposed
greatness of our predecessors, we may not too rashly sing:

Such is Drowsietown--but nay!
Was, not is, my song should say.
Such was summer long ago
In this town so sleepy and slow,
Changes has come; thro' wood and dale
Runs the demon of the rail,
And the Drowsietown of yore
Is not drowsy any more.

The History of New York State, Lewis
Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1927